Joystiq

Dream Fishing will make your day better

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 01 May 2013 23:59:00 EST

Dream Fishing is a first-person fishing game built in Unity. It runs in browser or as a client on PCs, Macs and Linux machines, and was built by Sophie Houlden over the course of 48 hours for the most recent Ludum Dare. In unspecific terms, Dream Fishing is the gaming equivalent of a warm mug of chai tea, or a blanket fresh from the dryer.

Players navigate a glowing, peaceful pond in first person, catching helpful fish that dispense homespun wisdom and non sequiturs as quaint piano sounds punctuate their footsteps. Just, don't listen to the grey-and-black fish. He isn't as helpful or as uplifting as the rest of them.

A time lapse video of Houlden's 48-hour creative process, including crucial Azumanga Daioh breaks, has been tucked away after the jump.

Continue reading Dream Fishing will make your day better

Dream Fishing will make your day better originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 May 2013 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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George Broussard goes minimalist in Ludum Dare entry 'The Road'

Danny Cowan — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:30:00 EST

Industry veteran and outspoken Duke Nukem co-creator George Broussard sets his sights on the indie-focused Ludum Dare competition with The Road, a side-scrolling browser game that reflects on the futility of existence.

Ludum Dare is an online game jam held every four months in which indie creators are given 48 hours to create a game based on an assigned prompt. Designed around the theme "minimalism," The Road challenges players to survive endless waves of falling objects and ground hazards in the hopes of living a long, fulfilling life.

In an interesting twist, the player's squarish avatar grows into a tall rectangle as it ages, making it more difficult to survive as the game progresses. After each death, players are given a brief (and often morbid) summary of how they made their fate. Broussard challenges players to survive past the age of 20; be warned that you'll likely suffer many deaths before you reach your teenage years.

Personally, I made it to age 19 before I died of explosive diarrhea. Harsh.

George Broussard goes minimalist in Ludum Dare entry 'The Road' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Team Meat grants Mew-Genics Steam support, details project history

Mike Suszek — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST

As one of Team Meat's "Caturday" teasers, the team announced Steam support for Mew-Genics. The game was previously announced for iOS.

Team Meat also took a moment to discuss the history of Mew-Genics, noting that the project has been in development for 18 weeks. It started as a Ludum Dare 24 challenge under the "Evolution" theme, though Team Meat went with the "1,000 kittens" joke theme that the community attempted to vote in. After three days of development in Flash, the development duo realized it had a "monster mashup of many different game genres with an underlying theme [it] hadn't seen done in games before" on its hands. Mew-Genics then became the developer's full-time project.

The team also recognizes how obscure the "Caturday" teasers have become, saying it "will only do two more Caturday teasers after this then pull back and focus on getting the game done as well as officially announcing what the game actually is and how it plays."

Team Meat grants Mew-Genics Steam support, details project history originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ludum Dare 25 closes out today with some banging indie games

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:00:00 EST

The relaxed version of Ludum Dare 25 ends today, while the 48-hour game jam closed out yesterday, and all this means that there are some brand spankin' new indie games you can play right now. Most developers are now posting links to their jam games, both in download and browser form, on the Ludum Dare blog.

A few that take clever advantage of the jam's theme, "You are the villain," are Deadland, You Are The Goatman, Train Splat, The World is Mine!, Super Witch Hunter Pro (pictured above) and of course Mike Schramm's (of the Schramm Joystiqs) Space Liberators. There are tons of diamonds in the Ludum Dare rough, so browse the blog to find your favorite.

Ludum Dare 25 closes out today with some banging indie games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ludum Dare 25 ends today or tomorrow, relative to devs' daring

Jessica Conditt — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:30:00 EST

Ludum Dare, a massive online game jam currently on its 25th iteration, is going on right now, but won't be for much longer. Ludum Dare 25 began on December 14 with the theme, "You are the villain" (We didn't want to tell you, but you totally are. Pity, that).

Ludum Dare 25 consists of the strict, 48-hour solo competition, which ends today, and the more "relaxed" jam, which ends tomorrow, December 17. Anyone interested in taking a peek behind the lacy, gently wafting curtain of indie game development can do so on the Ludum Dare website, where developers post updates, photos and thoughts for all to see. But be quick - the developers certainly are.

Ludum Dare 25 ends today or tomorrow, relative to devs' daring originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fracuum, the game within a game from Closure's Tyler Glaiel

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:30:00 EST

Tyler Glaiel, creator of Closure, likes to stay busy, apparently. The developer banged out a game in 48 hours for the 23rd Ludum Dare 48 competition, which went down from April 20-23. Entitled Fracuum, the game tasks players with navigating a cube through a maze of traps and hazards. Graphically, it's not terribly different from early efforts on the Atari 2600, though it comes packing a twist.

Taking on the Ludum Dare 23 theme of "Tiny World," each level of Fracuum has another level embedded inside of it, creating a loop of levels within levels and a mild case of tunnel vision. It's easier to play than it is to explain, so just head over to Glaiel's website and try it out. Ludum Dare 48 voting closes in just under a week.

[Thanks, Cal.]

Fracuum, the game within a game from Closure's Tyler Glaiel originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 May 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ludum Dare hosting anti-SOPA game jam, Notch is in

Mike Schramm — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST

Wikipedia and a few other sites around the Internet will be going under a blackout on Wednesday to protest SOPA, PIPA, and any other legislation that threatens to shut down parts of the Internet for the interests of a few in power. But shutting down for the day is a less creative way to go about it, so Ludum Dare has a better idea: Why not make some indie games instead?

The famous indie game competition is hosting a virtual game jam throughout the day, asking indie game developers (or anyone off from usual work) to make games inspired by the fight against SOPA. There are already a few submitted, and you can make and add your own, or see what other developers have done throughout the day. It's just a freeform jam, so there aren't any real prizes to be had, except that we all get some fun (or crazy, or hastily designed) indie games to play afterwards.

The #sopajam hashtag is being used to follow the conversation on Twitter, and at least one major indie developer has taken up the cause himself. Last time Notch jammed on a game it turned into a real Mojang release, so who knows what we'll get this time?

Ludum Dare hosting anti-SOPA game jam, Notch is in originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notch creates 'Minicraft' in less than 48 hours, you can play it now

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:57:00 EST

Lest you missed the live stream, Notch has finished his creation for the Ludum Dare 22 competition. Created in less than 48 hours, Minicraft strikes a familiar, albeit pixelated chord. Kill monsters, collect resources, build stuff. You can check out the browser game for yourself right here.

Notch creates 'Minicraft' in less than 48 hours, you can play it now originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notch live-streams making a game in 48 hours, listens to dubstep*

Jessica Conditt — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST

Notch is participating in Ludum Dare 22, a 48-hour programming competition that challenges developers to create an entire game from scratch based on community suggestions, and he's live-streaming all of it -- including the dubstep blasting from his desktop. There are more than eight hours left in this weekend's competition, so if you have the time, settle in and watch an indie master at work.

If you mute the video (or if you enjoy aural torment of the womp womp variety), you can still marvel at the speed and obvious practice this man has put into game programming, though you may miss the cute things Notch says every now and then in response to the streaming comments.

In a previous 48-hour challenge, Notch made Left 4k Dead, a terrifying zombie romp inspired by Zynga's Farmville -- er, Valve's Left 4 Dead series. Also, he uses MS Paint to create his objects. How adorable.

* Depending on when you begin watching Notch's live-stream, he may not in fact be listening to dubstep, but to jazzy songstresses or Disney music instead. But he was listening to dubstep at one point, trust us. We can't forget it.

Notch live-streams making a game in 48 hours, listens to dubstep* originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Play the game Notch made in 48 hours

JC Fletcher — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST

This weekend's iteration of the occasional Ludum Dare game-making marathon, in which entrants have 48 hours to create a game from scratch, had a celebrity participant: Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, who spent the weekend developing a first-person dungeon crawler called Prelude of the Chambered.

If you'd like to see what happens when Notch rushes (in contrast to the still unfinished Minecraft) you can play the game in a browser window. Like, right now. Here's the link. "It takes about 20-30 minutes to beat the game," said Notch, suggesting you might be able to get back to work today. Of course, he immediately followed with "if you die, you need to start over from the beginning," throwing your workday back into question.

Play the game Notch made in 48 hours originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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